In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn under and  over  parallel warp yarns to create a fabric.. The weft is a thread or  yarn  of spun fibre. The original fibre was wool, flax or cotton.  Nowadays,  many synthetic fibers are used in weaving. Because the weft  does not  have to be stretched in the way that the warp is, it can  generally be  less strong.The weft is threaded through the warp using a  shuttle. Hand  looms were the original weaver's tool, with the shuttle  being threaded  through alternately raised warps by hand. Inventions  during the 18th  century spurred the Industrial Revolution, and the hand  loom became the  more robust spinning frame with the flying shuttle  speeding up  production of cloth, and then the water frame using water  power to  automate the weaving process. The power loom followed in the  19th  century, when steam power was harnessed.